You're All I Have Left
by queen-bess-mccord
Summary: What happens right after the accident in 3.07. Enjoy!


**A/N:** Hey guys! Here's a tiny piece that takes place right after the accident in Tectonic Shift. Hope you'll enjoy it! And as usual, reviews are highly appreciated ;)

* * *

"Help! Help!" Panic burned in Will's throat and his lungs struggled for air. "Help!"

Why weren't there cars or people when he needed them?! He ran back to the car and pressed his sweatshirt to his mom's wounds again, hoping she'd hold on somehow. _Holy crap, there was so much blood._ "Mom? Oh God, please, don't die. Please, _please_ don't die, Mom, I'm trying to get help, just hang on, please."

Just as he looked up, a pair of headlights appeared at the end of the road. Without thinking, he dashed into the middle of the lane and held his hands out, praying they'd stop and help.

The car came to a screeching halt right before it hit him.

"Are you nuts, kid?" the driver exclaimed, "I could've hit you!"

Will ran to the side and popped his head in, "Please, you have to help me! My parents, they're there, they, w-we were in an accident, please, help me."

Upon hearing this, he stepped out of his car. "Jesus Christ are they okay?"

"No, my dad, he's, I think he's gone." His voice broke at the end, his hands trembling as he grasped the driver's arms. "My mom! She's still breathing. Please, you gotta help me."

"Okay, kid, hang on, there's a payphone nearby; I'll dial 911. Hang in there, kid, keep applying that pressure to your mom's wounds!"

Will sprinted back to the car, as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Mom? Are you there?" he whispered, not daring to imagine the worst.

No response.

"Mom?! _Mom_! Reply me, Mom, please, I can't lose you too," he begged, sobs wracking his frame as he forcefully shook her shoulders. "O-oh right I have to apply pressure! I'll apply pressure and you'll be fine, right?!"

His hands fumbled for his sweatshirt again, not caring that it was already soaked with blood, and pressed it to her head. Prayers repeated over and over again in his mind, hoping she'd survive somehow.

It felt like eternity before the driver returned. "I called the ambulance! They're coming in 15 minutes!"

"15 minutes? _15 minutes?! My mom is dying and it's only coming in 15 minutes?!_ "

"Look, kid, I can't make them come any faster. I'd drive her to the hospital, but moving her and putting her in a car right now isn't a good idea."

"I'm s-sorry. Is there anything else I can do? Tell me how I can help her!"

"I have some rags we can use to apply tourniquets. Let me grab them!"

"Thank you!" Will turned back to his mother. "Mom, the ambulance is coming! Just hang in there!"

Again, no response. All he could hear was her shallow breathing, but that was more than enough for him to hope.

Little did he know that her ribs had broken and punctured her lungs while her brain hemorrhaged. She had several minutes left, but it was definitely not long enough to survive the wait.

The driver turned out to be a guy named Mike who was working at a farm down the road and happened to be returning home then. Together, they applied tourniquets wherever they could. Mike tried to engage Will in small talk to distract him, but he barely uttered a word in response, only incoherently muttering to himself as he applied pressure to his mom's head wound. Mike eventually fell silent when talking to Will grew to be ineffective.

Suddenly, he felt his mom's subtle movements fade away. She stopped breathing. He scrambled to place two fingers against her pulse point. Nothing. "Mom?!" he grabbed her shoulders, his voice rising in hysterics.

His eyes snapped up at the sound of ambulance sirens approaching. _Finally_. Dropping everything, he ran to the ambulance the moment it stopped.

Paramedics hopped out the back, carrying medical tools and a gurney. "Where is she?"

"She's there! She stopped breathing, please help her," Will sobbed frantically. Suddenly, his head started spinning and in a moment of imbalance, he fell to the ground.

"Shit, kid probably has a concussion." A paramedic, Sarah, came rushing back to where Will was, and gently hauled him up on his feet before guiding him to sit by the road. "Kid you okay?"

"I, uh, everything's spinning. Help Mom, please, help her." Will mumbled, nauseated.

Sarah grabbed a cold compress and guided him onto the ambulance, where another colleague, Thomas, was stationed. "What's her name?"

"Melissa. Melissa Adams."

"Alright, kid, we'll do our best to help your mom, okay? Stay here." She then rushed back to the site to help. "How is everything, Paul?"

"Not good. Husband's been gone for a few minutes, according to the kid. I checked; no pulse, no breathing. With that injury, he probably passed when they took impact. She's not breathing either, probably a few fractured ribs and took a hit to her head, but she just stopped breathing. We can still try to save her. Help me out."

Carefully, they laid her out on the grass.

"What should we do?" Sarah wringed her hands nervously.

"Uh, grab the defibrillator," he instructed.

Sarah sprinted back to the ambulance to retrieve it. In a swift motion, Paul ripped Melissa's shirt apart, making a practiced incision in her chest before inserting a tube to drain the fluids filling up her lungs. When Sarah returned, they quickly set up the defibrillator.

"200 volts. Clear!"

Her chest arched from the ground, before falling back to the ground. Nothing.

"250 volts. Clear!"

Nothing again.

They repeated their actions with regular increments in voltage. Yet, there was no change. She remained motionless on the damp grass, her eyes closed and her body limp. Paul wiped his arm against his forehead.

"She's gone." Looking at his watch, he noted the time of death. "1:07 pm. C'mon, we still need to transport her and her husband to the hospital."

Together, Sarah and Paul strapped them to two gurneys and loaded them onto the back of the ambulance.

Will rushed over to them, stopping to steady himself when dizziness hit him again. "Is my mom okay?!"

Sarah took a tentative step towards him. "I'm really sorry, we tried everything. She...passed," she swallowed, her voice thick.

"N-no...No! She can't be gone!" He rushed to his mom's side and shook her lifeless form. "Mom, you're joking right? Please tell me you're joking," he begged.

Thomas reached out to him and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm so sorry, kid."

"Let me go!" He struggled against his arms, breaking free and hugging his mom. "I'm sorry, Mom. Mom, come back please? Please. I'll study hard like Bess, I'll do my chores, I promise, I'll be nice too! _Come back please. Please._ "

* * *

The phone rang. Bess ignored it, thinking it was Will, and turned back to her book. She had to ace this test, and a phone call wasn't going to interrupt her studies.

The phone rang again. Annoyed by its persistent ringing, she bounded down the stairs and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Elizabeth Adams?"

"Yes." Something was wrong, she could sense it. Her hands grew clammy.

"I'm calling from the hospital. Your family was involved in a car accident. Your brother's here; he mentioned that you're his next-of-kin." The nurse on the phone paused, giving her time to process the news.

"W-wait, what? I don't understand." Her hands shook as they held the phone to her ear.

"Your parents and brother were on the road and they swerved to avoid another car, but ended up crashing. I'm sorry."

"Are they okay?! Where are they?!"

"Your brother survived the crash. He's in shock, but he's being treated for a concussion right now."

"How about my parents?!"

"I'm really sorry, sweetheart, they didn't make it."

She clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling the scream that escaped her lips. This can't be. What was the last thing she said to them again?

" _Close the door!"_

Of all the other things she could have said! She sunk to the ground, clutching the phone to her chest.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth, dear, are you there?"

Taking several deep breaths, she brought the receiver up again. "Um, yeah, I'm here." Her voice was barely above a whisper, trembling with every word she said.

The nurse gave her the hospital address and information about where Will was warded.

Forcing the grief down, she dashed out of the house and headed to the hospital - headed to Will.

* * *

The moment the doors opened, she ran straight to the counter. "Will Adams!" she shouted, "Which ward?!"

The nurse at the reception jumped at the sudden demand, then started scanning his list for the name. "Adams...Adams...Down the hall on your right, at the very end!"

She offered a quick thanks before sprinting down the corridor.

It had been barely an hour since she received the news and she still couldn't believe what had happened. But she was the big sister, she had to be there for him. Shoving her grief to the gutter, she pushed the door open.

He was obviously better off than, well… She pushed the thoughts away. He was lying in a bed, his head wrapped up in gauze for some minor cuts he sustained. At least he was conscious and alive.

"Will!"

His head snapped towards the source. "Bess!" He struggled to get out of his position despite his nurse's protests.

Elizabeth ran over to him and pushed him back into bed, "Don't you dare try to get out of that bed!"

He cringed at her loud voice, his head throbbing badly. He sat at the edge of the bed, sobs clawing at his chest. "Bess, I'm so sorry. Dad...Mom, s-she was, I couldn't do anything I'm so sorry…"

She wrapped her arms around him. "Will, I am so sorry you had to experience that. It's not your fault," she choked, tears welling up in her eyes. Damn it, she swore to herself to keep it together.

"But I couー"

"Will, shh it'll be alright. I'm here. It's okay." It didn't sound convincing; her voice was strained, laced with the anguish they now shared. But it was all she could say.

He cried into her shirt, his hands clutching at the thin fabric and pulling her close. The feeling of her, warm, breathing, _alive_ ー he couldn't take it for granted now.

"You're all I have left."


End file.
